The new era of college football is all about being bold.
The first two seasons since the Great Realignment and the expansion of the College Football Playoff have shown us that what we think we know before a season will be irrelevant by the time the dust settles.
We’ve seen the miraculous rise of a powerhouse (Indiana), the dramatic fall of others (Penn State, Clemson), and it’s anybody’s guess what is to come over the next four months.
With that in mind, I’ve outlined my five bold predictions for the 2026 season:
Nebraska ends Indiana’s 21-game winning streak
The Hoosiers travel to Memorial Stadium on Oct. 10. Both teams should be 5-0, with Indiana riding a 21-game winning streak into a date with the Cornhuskers and their rabid fans.
If both teams hold up their end of the bargain and we do get a battle of undefeateds in Lincoln, you should expect an incredible atmosphere as Matt Rhule’s Huskers look for their biggest win in over a decade.
It won’t be easy, as the Hoosiers are projected to be a double-digit favorite, but this is a really tricky schedule spot for Indiana.
Not only is it their second road game in a row after a trip to New Jersey to take on Rutgers on Oct. 3, but it also comes immediately before a two-game stretch against Ohio State (at home) and Michigan (away). It’s a horrendous sandwich spot for the Hoosiers, and an unbelievable opportunity for Rhule to get a program-changing victory.
Nebraska, with some wind in its sails, will get the job done.
UTSA is the only Lone Star State team to make the Playoff
We’re in a golden era of college football in Texas.
The Longhorns, led by Arch Manning, are one of the favorites to win the national championship for the second year in a row.
The Aggies, fresh off a trip to the College Football Playoff in 2025, have the third-best SP+ (a catch-all metric developed by analytics guru Bill Connelly) in the SEC.
And Texas Tech finally made good on the hype in 2025, winning the Big 12 and getting a bye as the No. 4 seed in the Playoff.
We also shouldn’t forget that North Texas had the best scoring offense in the country last season, Houston finished in the top 25, and Rice (!) made a bowl game, where they lost to Texas State.
Everything is bigger in Texas, but I have a feeling that 2026 will be a down year for the headliners in the Lone Star State.
For Steve Sarkisian and Texas, it’s about the schedule. An out-of-conference date with Ohio State, plus an unrelenting SEC schedule, means that there is no room for error in Austin, again. Arch Manning will also have more pressure on his shoulders than any player in the country.
Over in College Station, my concerns are more about the quarterback and his offensive line. Marcel Reed is a game-breaker in the literal sense of the word. He is jazzy, but he’s got mistakes in him, and he could be under more pressure than he was in 2025 thanks to an overhauled offensive line.
In Lubbock, there are more questions than you want if you’re an even-money favorite to win the Big 12. The Red Raiders lost two of the best defensive players in the sport to the NFL Draft, and they’ll be rolling the dice with quarterback Will Hammond after Brandon Sorsby’s departure. Hammond tore his ACL last October. A soft schedule could mean that one misstep puts the Red Raiders on thin ice.
One team that I think does have some value in making the Playoff is UT-San Antonio. The second-favorite in the AAC, the Roadrunners look primed for a big jump after going 9-4, 7-6, and 7-6 in their first three seasons in the conference.
And for the first time since the Roadrunners made the leap from C-USA to the AAC, this conference looks ripe for the taking.
Navy is a lukewarm favorite, but they lost their four most important players on offense, including quarterback Blake Horvath, who rushed for 33 touchdowns and passed for 25 more in the last two seasons.
The other conference heavyweights from recent seasons, Tulane, Memphis, and South Florida, all watched their head coaches take jobs at major programs this offseason.
East Carolina, the third-favorite at DraftKings, was terrific in 2025, but the Pirates had significant turnover as their roster was getting pilfered by Power 4 programs.
UTSA, compared to the other contenders in the best Group of 5 conference, is a picture of stability under Jeff Traylor, now in his seventh season in charge.
The schedule isn’t a cakewalk, but I like UTSA’s chances of winning the AAC, and thus proving it is the cream of the crop in the Group of 6.
Oklahoma State makes the Big 12 championship
Curt Cignetti and Indiana showed us what can happen when a rising coach lands in the right situation and brings his gang along with him. I don’t expect Eric Morris to pull off the same miracle in Stillwater that Cignetti did in Bloomington, but I do think there’s a chance for the Pokes to do something special in 2026.
Not only did Morris lead North Texas to their best season ever in 2025, but he did it in style. The Mean Green (12-2) were the best offensive team in the country by yards per game (512.4), points per game (44.6), and SP+. The pilot of that offense was quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who is making the 230-mile trip north with Morris to Stillwater.
Mestemaker, who threw for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns as a freshman, isn’t the only North Texas standout who is joining the party in Stillwater. Morris is also bringing his 1,400-yard tailback, Caleb Hawkins, two star wideouts, Wyatt Young and Miles Coleman, and his two best offensive linemen with him.
His former defensive coordinator, Skyler Cassity, is also hitching his wagon.
The Big 12 has one behemoth (Texas Tech) and a host of teams that project to be good but not great. If Morris and Mestemaker combine for the same kind of magic they did last year in Denton, I see no reason why Oklahoma State, despite going 1-11 in a nightmare season in 2025, won’t contend with the likes of BYU, Utah, Houston, Kansas State, and Arizona.
Byrum Brown wins the Heisman Trophy
Auburn has a way of getting fans and bettors excited every summer, but the addition of Byrum Brown should have everybody on the Plains feeling optimistic.
This isn’t Auburn grabbing a former blue-chipper who fell out of favor at another school, but rather a known commodity joining the team along with his head coach of the last three years.
Alex Golesh will take over the reins at Auburn after a successful stint at USF thanks in large part to Brown. A true dual-threat quarterback, Brown racked up 3,158 passing yards and 28 touchdowns, plus 1,121 rushing yards (not including sacks) and 14 touchdowns.
It was the second time in three years under Golesh that Brown threw for at least 3,000 yards and rushed for at least 1,000 more in the same season.
We’ll see if the rest of this roster can do its part, but I have every bit of confidence that Brown will have a Heisman-worthy stat line for the Tigers in 2026.
Brown is 55/1 to win the Heisman at Fanatics Sportsbook. Grab that while you can.
Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps
Notre Dame beats LSU in the national championship
We’re learning on the fly in this new age of college football, and one thing to keep in mind is that getting hot at the right time really matters.
Last year, Miami and Ole Miss played their best football at the exact right time and met in the semifinals before the Hurricanes fell to Indiana in the championship game.
The previous year, it was No. 8 seed Ohio State taking on No. 7 seed Notre Dame in the final. Both teams had some speed bumps during the regular season, and only really hit their stride in the tournament. Their reward? A run to the showpiece.
I think there’s a very real chance that LSU is the team that finds its rhythm at the right time in 2026.
The Bayou Bengals have a tricky front-end of their schedule, which is highlighted by a trip to Oxford to take on Kiffin’s former team, Ole Miss, on Sept. 19. That contest comes two weeks after a season-opener against Clemson and immediately before they host Texas A&M.
I don’t expect LSU to be undefeated on Oct. 1, but their schedule relents a bit after that, giving Kiffin and Co. time to get things sorted out before a closing stretch against Auburn, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
If the Tigers are able to play their way into the CFB Playoff, they will have earned it, and should be firing on all cylinders at the exact right time.
As for the Irish, well, everything seems to be lining up for them. They’ve got the coach, the quarterback, the firepower, a potentially elite defense, an easy schedule, and a massive chip on their shoulder.
It would be a stunner if Notre Dame isn’t one of the last four teams standing in January.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
